GP’s Classic Steel #65: Classic Threads

This  Sinisalo jersey in Greg’s collection  belonged to Mike “Stingray”Craig when he rode for Honda of Troy Racing in 1998. In the mid-nineties and early 2000’s, Troy Racing was a motocross powerhouse on the level of modern day Gieco Honda or Pro Circuit. They contended for titles and employed top flight riders like Jeremy McGrath, Larry Ward, Ernesto Fonseca and Brian Swink. For over a decade, the Fifth Dragon was a force to be reckoned with in American Motocross.

Mike Craig made the jump to Honda of Troy in late 1994, after a mercurial stint on a Factory Yamaha. Craig was hired to be the replacement for the prematurely retiring Damon Bradshaw and early on, seemed to be a good pick. He would deliver a popular win at the Orlando Supercross, but by mid-season, be in McCarty’s dog house.  Craig’s stint at HOT would last from 1994 through 1998, when he would be released. Shortly after this picture was taken during 1998 Budds Creek National, Craig would hit a braking bump coming down the start/finish hill and cartwheel his way to a badly broken femur and a new employer for ’99.

While Sinisalo is largely forgotten now in the US, for a time in the 80’s and early 90’s they were a strong player in the gear market. In 1984, Finnish gear maker counted riders like Ricky Johnson and Jeff Ward among their star athletes.

Sinisalo had its heyday in America in the early 90’s with the hiring of Honda 250 rookie Jeremy McGrath. After three years with AXO, McGrath was moving up to the big bike class and looking for a clothing deal to go with his new Factory Honda contract. This worked out very well for Sinisalo, who was closely allied with AXO and had its marque rider Jeff Ward retiring. With Bradshaw and Stanton already at AXO, it made sense to put the kid on Sinisalo. Jeremy would give the brand a major boost during the two years he rode for them. In 1995, Sinisalo would lose out to Fox Racing for the Factory Honda team clothing deal and make the move to sponsoring Honda of Troy the following year.

This particular MSR (originally Malcolm Smith Racing) jersey was worn by eventual 250 and 500 National Motocross champion Mike LaRocco during the 1991 season.

In 1991, MSR was definitely a second tier player in the motocross apparel wars. JT racing was fading from its glory years, but Fox Racing and upstart AXO were quickly gobbling up the scraps.  With LaRocco and 125 National Champion Guy Cooper on the brand, they did get a good deal of exposure, but it was not enough to overcome the marketing might of the two Juggernauts.

In 1991, LaRocco would score his first Supercross win (and probably MSR’s first since Mike Bell) at the Las Vegas event. In a bit of irony for a guy notorious for his terrible starts, the Rocket would grab the holeshot and walk away to an uncontested victory.

This Team Yamaha Fox gear was worn by David Vuillemin in 2001.  All Team Yamaha riders were required to wear blue gear exclusively (a fact that later rankled Chad Reed to the point he demanded exceptions be made in his contract), which left very little room for personalization for their riders.

In 2001, “Le Cobra”had a bit of an off year after his surprising 2000 season.  In 2000, DV had claimed two main event wins and an impressive second overall finish behind Jeremy McGrath. In 2001, things did not seem to come together as easily for the Frenchman, as he was unable to claim a podium and struggled to an eighth overall in the standings. Two thousand and two would see a return to form for Vuillemin, as he would race to victory in the season’s first two events and nearly claim the crown over Ricky Carmichael.

There can be little doubt that this Jersey still haunts the dreams of one David Pingree. Ping and Bentley staged an epic dual in 2000, taking the title down to the last moto in Irving, Texas. In the end, Pingree came up one place short and Bentley was crowned the 2000 West Coast Supercross champ.

While there can be little doubt Shae Bentley was an immensely talented rider, he was never able to duplicate his 2000 125 Supercross title. Bentley’s undoing would be injuries, which would plague him throughout his career and eventually lead to a premature retirement from professional competition.

In 2002, Australian Chad made the jump from GP competition to the AMA circuit. While Reed initially wanted to jump right into the 250 class in America (he had been riding 250’s in Europe), Yamaha was loath to throw him into the deep end right away. The compromise would be Yamaha of Troy, who would place Reed on the new YZ250F indoors and out. While Chad would dominate the ’02 125 East Supercross title, the buzz saw known as James Stewart would get the better of Reed outdoors.

Interestingly, the most prominent logo on Chad’s THOR jersey is not Yamaha of Troy, but AST. Action Sports Team was supposed to promote the riders and their likeness, with the goal of selling merchandise to adoring fans. Much like the misguided (in my opinion) idea to brand the riders with permanent numbers, it was an idea that sounded good, but never bore the fruit it promised